WO2014111874A1

WO2014111874A1 - System and method for evaluating geo-tagged billboards

Info

Publication number: WO2014111874A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/058318
Authority: WO
Inventors: Harjaap Singh MANN; Pv NARAYANAMOORTHY; Nahar Singh; Vasudha KHANNA
Original assignee: Proof Of Performance Data Services Pvt. Ltd.
Priority date: 2013-01-17
Filing date: 2014-01-16
Publication date: 2014-07-24

Abstract

The inventive subject matter provides systems and methods for capturing and geotagging billboards as part of an image or a video along a particular stretch of road or for a given geographical region. The proposed systems and methods are also provided for comparing changes in a given geo-tagged billboard across different time intervals based on one or more billboard parameters so as to assess the content variation pattern of the billboard, change in viewing pattern/time, change in billboard characteristics, variation in traffic pattern, changes in advertisement campaign running on the billboard, among other such changes affecting billboard evaluation characteristics that can help objectify overall impact of the currently running advertisements, worth of billboard in comparison with other billboards across different locations, and worth of billboard in comparison with other advertisement mediums.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING GEO-TAGGED BILLBOARDS

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present disclosure relates to geotagging of objects in images and videos. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to analysis of captured image/video data with respect to one or more objects through comparison with previously recorded and stored images/videos having geotagged objects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

[0003] With an increasing use of technology across industrial verticals, interactive map services comprising geographical information data are also enjoying a steep rise in popularity. Geographical information data has rich quality and typically includes media items such as images, videos, SMS messages, QR codes, websites, which are geotagged with various objects and/or entities such as buildings, roads, restaurants, parks, among other such objects of interest. Such geotagging can, not only include associating latitude and longitude information to the objects but can also comprise storing other metadata information about the objects such as height, purpose of the object, year of establishment, among other such details. Interactive maps comprising geographical information data in the form of such images and videos can therefore be conveniently used by a user to locate a certain street, building, or even a point of interest. Also, by using these map services, users can easily obtain directions on how to go from start location A to destination location B. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) can also be operatively coupled with recorded geotagged videos such that while travelling through a stretch of road that has been recorded in a video format, all locations that have been geotagged in the video can be highlighted as and when they are bypassed or arrived at.

[0004] A billboard, also commonly referred to as a hoarding, can be defined as a large outdoor advertisement structure that presents advertisements of various products, services, news and the like of a company, firm, or a movie to passing pedestrians and drivers. Billboards can be of various sizes and shapes and primarily used for the purpose of publicity of specific objects that are desired to be advertised. Billboards can be positioned at varied locations including, but not limited to, alongside the road, in a park, in a stadium, among other such positions and can be placed at various angles with respect to the viewer with an intention of maximizing visibility. Billboards can also include moving or stationery/static billboards, which can be mounted say on bus, truck, and can include advertisement on a cab. As different advertisements can be placed on each billboard at various times, content and mode of display of an advertisement also regularly changes based on the requirement of the advertiser.

[0005] With growing impact of advertising on consumers decisions to buy various products/services, advertisers are paying a lot of attention to understand the level of traction that their advertisement fetches and quantify the impact of their advertisement across different modes of advertising such as television, radio, magazine and outdoor means such as billboards, hoardings, posters, unipole, bus shelter, among other such means. Although the impact of indoor advertising means such as television and radio can be measured based on viewership, number of listeners or subscription, no means are currently available to accurately quantify impact of a currently running outdoor advertising campaign. Furthermore, no mechanism also currently exists to reliably help determine which billboard should be used for advertising based on the evaluation of the billboard.

[0006] Furthermore, existing geographical information data is primarily used for tagging places of interest, historical sites, buildings, airports, cultural heritage sites restaurants, convention centers, and other similar entities but do not provide for capturing and geotagging billboards, wherein such geotagging can help identifying location of billboards in a particular city or in a stretch of road, and can further help in a making meaningful and quantifiable evaluation of the billboards for advertisers, owners of billboards, and other concerned stakeholders.

[0007] There is therefore a need for a system and method that can capture and geotag billboards in an image or video and evaluate the billboards based on multiple parameters by comparison of the images/videos across time frames in order to yield an objective measure of the impact of the billboard, give an assessment of the impact of the currently running advertisement campaign, along with reporting other attributes or characteristics relating to the billboard. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The inventive subject matter provides systems and methods for capturing and geotagging billboards as part of an image or a video along a particular stretch of road or for a given geographical region. The proposed systems and methods are also provided for comparing changes in a given geo-tagged billboard across different time intervals based on one or more billboard parameters so as to assess content variation pattern of billboards, change in viewing pattern/time, change in billboard characteristics, variation in traffic pattern, changes in advertisement campaign running on the billboard, among other such changes affecting billboard evaluation characteristics that can help objectify overall impact of currently running advertisements, worth of billboard in comparison with other billboards across different locations, and worth of billboard in comparison with other advertisement mediums.

[0009] According to one embodiment, parameters associated with billboards can include exterior parameters such as traffic (number of vehicles or eyeballs viewing the billboard), location, distance from one or more roads, density of surrounding buildings/trees or other similar objects that impact viewing of a billboard, road attributes such as type of road (highway/flyover/main road), traffic lights, zebra crossing, speedbreakers, holes, road depressions; season, whether, among other similar parameters. According to another embodiment, parameters associated with billboards can also include interior parameters such as dimensions of billboard, height above ground, content being displayed, duration of advertisement, among other such interior parameters.

[00010] According to one embodiment, systems and methods are also provided for reporting an outcome of the assessment of one or more geotagged billboards across different time periods. Such time periods can range from seconds to decades or even more, wherein parameters of a given geotagged billboard, for instance, can be recorded once during the day and then during the night and both the videos and/or images can be compared to measure the changes in billboard evaluation characteristics as highlighted above and issue a report mentioning the changes in patterns and further presenting objective characteristics that can help advertiser, billboard owner, or any other stakeholder, make a more reliable and informed decision.

[00011] In an implementation, video of a given road stretch or geographical area can first be recorded and one or more billboards of interest recorded in the video can be geotagged using known and existing geotagging techniques. Once the video has been recorded and billboards of interest have been geotagged, every time a new video having the one or more geo-tagged billboards of interest are recorded across different time periods, the new video can be compared with one or more previously recorded videos such that attributes of billboards and changes in characteristics of each billboard across time periods can be evaluated to output the value and/or impact of billboard and advertisement running on the same to concerned stakeholders. It would be appreciated that although most of the present disclosure hereinafter would be explained with respect to one billboard being recorded twice as two independent videos that can be compared, it would be appreciated that multiple billboards can be evaluated simultaneously, and videos can be replaced by images having geotagged billboards, wherein multiple images taken at different time intervals can be collectively assessed in order to deduce billboard characteristics and effectiveness.

[00012] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[00013] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic of a billboard evaluation system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[00014] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary implementation of billboard geotagging in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[00015] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary comparison between currently recorded video having a geotagged billboard and previously recorded video based on content.

[00016] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary comparison between currently recorded video having a geotagged billboard and previously recorded video based on content characteristics.

[00017] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary comparison between currently recorded video having a geotagged billboard and previously recorded video based on dimensions of billboard.

[00018] FIG. 6 is an example method for evaluation of geotagged billboards over a particular route at a predefined time period in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[00019] It should be noted that while the following description is drawn to a system and method for evaluating billboards over a particular route, various alternative modifications are also deemed suitable and may employ various devices including cameras, vehicles, computing devices, servers, systems, databases, controllers, or other types of processing devices operating individually or collectively. One should appreciate the devices comprise a processor configured to execute software instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory readable storage medium (e.g., hard drive, solid state drive, RAM, flash, ROM, etc.). The software instructions can preferably configure the device to perform various operations, or other functionality as discussed below with respect to the disclosed system. Data exchanges preferably are conducted over a data bus, a packet-switched network, internet, LAN, WAN, VPN, or other type of packet switched network.

[00020] The following discussion describes the inventive subject matter with respect to various modules or units of billboard evaluation system. One skilled in the art will recognize that the inventive subject matter can scale as necessary to any number of items without departing from the inventive subject matter.

[00021] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.

[00022] Embodiments of the present invention include various steps, which will be described below. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special- purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software, firmware and/or by human operators.

[00023] Embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives, magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto -optical disks, semiconductor memories, such as ROMs, PROMs, random access memories (RAMs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable PROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions (e.g., computer programming code, such as software or firmware).

[00024] Various methods described herein may be practiced by combining one or more machine-readable storage media containing the code according to the present invention with appropriate standard computer hardware to execute the code contained therein. An apparatus for practicing various embodiments of the present invention may involve one or more computers (or one or more processors within a single computer) and storage systems containing or having network access to computer program(s) coded in accordance with various methods described herein, and the method steps of the invention could be accomplished by modules, routines, subroutines, or subparts of a computer program product.

[00025] If the specification states a component or feature "may", "can", "could", or "might" be included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included or have the characteristic.

[00026] Although the present disclosure has been described with the purpose of conducting billboard evaluation and advertising management, it should be appreciated that the same has been done merely to illustrate the invention in an exemplary manner and any other purpose or function for which the explained structure or configuration can be used, is covered within the scope o the present disclosure.

[00027] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary schematic of a billboard evaluation system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. According to one embodiment, system 100, alternatively also referred to as geotagged billboard evaluation system 100 hereinafter, comprises a capturing module 102, a geotagging module 104 operatively coupled to the capturing module 102, a comparison module 106, an evaluation module 108, and a report generation module 110 operatively coupled to the evaluation module 108. It should be appreciated that although the present modules have been shown to be interconnected with each other, each of the modules can be implemented on different or same computing devices and configured to operatively couple with each other to implement system 100. Furthermore, additional modules may be added at any time to implement one or more functionalities such as processing of content, management of content (such as information of geotagged billboards, billboard parameters, and values of billboard evaluation characteristics), among other such features. System 100 of the present disclosure can also be configured with a memory 112 configured to store content or information from one or more modules, details of which would be described below.

[00028] According to one embodiment, capturing module 102 is configured to capture and/or record a portion of a city, a road, a block, or any other section that comprises one or more points of interest such as billboards, hoardings, among other objects such as roads, parks, buildings/trees near the billboards, which are desired to be geotagged. Such capturing, in an exemplary embodiment, can be done through a camera or a video/image recorder having the ability to record content. It should be appreciated that although the present disclosure is being explained with reference to capturing of videos, it would be appreciated that instead of videos, cameras can also be used to capture images of billboards and other allied objects, which images can subsequently be geotagged, and therefore implementation of the present system and method through images is completely within the scope of the present invention. It would also be appreciated that apart from camera, any other suitable device, including but not limited to a mobile phone, PDA, smart-phones, tablets, among other such devices can be used. According to one embodiment, recorded content including videos and images can be stored in memory 112 of system 100, wherein the memory 112 can either be internal to system 100 or can be remotely positioned and operatively coupled with system 100. Memory 112 can include a database of a server, hard drive, RAM, ROM, flash memory, CD, DVD, floppy disk, USB drive and the like, and configured to store video/images captured by the capturing module 102.

[00029] According to one embodiment, for the purpose of implementing capturing module 102, a recording apparatus can be positioned/mounted on a vehicle and the vehicle can be routed through a desired section or geographical area such that the apparatus captures billboards or other objects of interest either in a video or image format. Capturing module 102 can be configured to control the content that gets recorded along with controlling aspects such as zoom, angle, type of recording, type of shot, among other settings. Capturing module 102 can also indicate time and route to be taken for efficient capturing of billboards and other desired objects. According to one embodiment, vehicle can be stopped at one or more billboards to record various parameters of each billboard, whereas in another embodiment, the vehicle does not need to be stopped and video is recorded continuously to observe external as well as internal parameters of each billboard including characteristics of the respective surroundings objects. According to one embodiment, video recorded by the recorder can be sent to geotagging module 104 for geotagging of one or more billboards.

[00030] According to one embodiment, geotagging module 104 can be configured to receive recorded video and/or one or more images from capturing module 102, and geotag one or more billboards in the video and/or the images by marking their specific location characteristics including latitude and longitude information along with assigning other metadata information about billboards including size, height from ground level, name of place where billboard is located, type of billboard, content being displayed, time for which the billboard is viewable, among other such attributes and billboard/location characteristics. It would be appreciated that along with billboards, any other object of interest including, but not limited to, parks, prominent buildings, monuments, can also be geotagged. According to one embodiment, identification of billboards in a recorded video can either be conducted automatically or can be done manually by an operator using the geotagging module 104. In implementation, during the identification process, when a billboard is detected in recorded video, video playing can be paused and billboard can be geotagged with location information along with storing metadata information of geotagged billboards such as name of area in which the billboard is placed (such as Fremont), surrounding features of the billboard such as quality of road, date and time information, density of buildings, traffic pattern, nearby landmark information, density of trees, season and weather conditions, among other such billboard parameters. As discussed above, such billboard parameters can also be deduced automatically through geotagging module 104 and stored as billboard parameters in memory 112 of system 100.

[00031] Geotagging module 104 may be configured along with or in operative coupling with an external GPS receiver or an inbuilt/internal GPS. Vehicle mount/external GPS can be incorporated for receiving correct and accurate geographical data from navigation satellites, related to a particular route/location. As vehicle mount GPS are located outside the vehicle, reception of attenuation free/error free signal from satellite is possible, further, reception of signal during bad whether/foggy whether condition can also be made possible. A large number of external GPS are available in market from reputed manufactures of GPS such as Garmin, Tomtom, Gilsson, Globalsat and many more. One such external GPS available is a magnetic rooftop type GPS, which is quite suitable for external mounting GPS outside the vehicle. Due to technical advancement, GPS receivers may be integrated with new generation capturing/shooting devices such as digital cameras, camcorder, DSLR's and the like. A GPS receiver as a chip may be installed within capturing device(s) supported by a suitable software/program, which allows GPS and camera to work as a single unit, thereby eliminating requirements of an additional external GPS receiver and making the system and architecture thereof compact.

[00032] GPS receiver can communicate with navigation satellites placed in earth's orbit, such as SATNAV, GLONASS, IRNSS and the like. A satellite navigation system is a system of satellites that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. It allows small electronic receivers (GPS receiver) to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) to high precision (within a few meter range) using time signals transmitted along a line of sight by radio devices from satellites. Signals may also allow electronic receivers to calculate current local time to high precision, which allows time synchronization.

[00033] Location data/geographical data (latitude and longitude) is used to geo-tag a picture/image or video. Geotagging is a process of insertion of latitude and longitude of a location where photograph/image/video was taken and then addition of this data to "EXIF" information that was captured by the camera when the photograph was taken. "EXIF" data can be attached with digital image file that the camera records, wherein this data can be read by a suitable software.

[00034] According to one embodiment, image/video can be geotagged manually by looking at a map and finding out (latitude and longitude) and then entering information/metadata content manually into/associated with billboard image using a suitable means. In another embodiment, GPS can also be configured to log location of image and then add that information either automatically or manually to EXIF data. Few digital cameras are equipped with a GPS to record this data automatically, while others allow fitting of a special GPS receiver and then communicating data to camera usually by an additional cable connection.

[00035] According to one embodiment, as discussed above, geotagging module 104, apart from storing latitude and longitude information, can be configured to manually or automatically store billboard parameters including internal billboard parameters such as content displayed on the billboard, media code, media type, brand name, sub-brand details, slogan, tagline, located on, owner, price, dimensions of the billboard, kind and time duration of each advertisement, height of the billboard, angle to the billboard with respect to each of the roads from which it is viewable, advertiser details, advertisement characteristics, background color of the billboard, among other such details. Advertiser details, can, for instance, directly be deduced by capture of the logo present on the billboard and similarly, other characteristics such as fonts or representation format of the content being displayed can also be automatically retrieved and stored as part of the billboard parameters. Billboard parameters can also include external billboard parameters such as time for which the billboard and/or content thereof is visible to a driver from one or more roads, clarity of content, sides from which the billboard is visible, visible distance, direction of visibility, temperature/weather conditions at the time the video/image was captured, density of vehicle at the location of the billboard, among other such parameters.

[00036] According to one embodiment, geo-tagging module 104 can be configured to store traffic pattern and metadata information relating to traffic attributes from capturing device associated with billboard, also referred to as an asset hereinafter. In an implementation, a camera can be mounted on an asset/billboard, and can record video/image, such that module 104 (or any other defined module) counts the number of people moving by it, and out of those, number of people whose faces are detected, and are therefore likely to have seen it. Capturing device of billboard/asset can then count type of vehicles passing by, and based on price of the vehicle, can try and group audiences/traffic into a socio economic classification. Any other likewise measure to assess traffic pattern passing by the billboard can also be evaluated and stored as metadata information associated with the billboard in context.

[00037] According to another embodiment, camera on a static billboard can be count the traffic and also attempt to read number plate and assign an altered number to it, so that the actual number is not stored for privacy reasons. System can then try and detect how many vehicles are coming frequently and how many are unique. This information can be used to create campaign plans and assess traffic attributes that can either target more unique audiences and hence have a better reach, or reach out to the same audiences but more number of times, and hence have the frequency or a combination. This is called the reach-frequency model, which is difficult to achieve in existing OOH advertising platforms.

[00038] In another implementation, reach frequency models can be derived for traffic movement patterns and outdoor advertisement campaign planning using telecom data. For instance, cellular/ telecom data from the users (traffic) can be received by the billboard/hoarding/signboard (that can work as a trans-receiver) at various points, based on which traffic data and the type of vehicles can be analyzed for determining movement patterns of target audience, which is to be used by the planning tool algorithm to determine the number of outdoor sites and the locations to achieve the campaign objectives. Such traffic data can also be stored along with said billboard metadata information for assessment of traffic attributes. In such a case, system 100, through one or more modules, can analyze telecom data that will use anonymous hashed ID's subscriber, cell tower connected to, date and time, for various times of the day, week and month. The system can then give traffic counts, driving patterns of subscribers who have been connected to network and have been active in incoming/outgoing voice calls or sms/data connections, thereby generating a call data record, linked to a particular tower. Since geographical locations of the towers are known, the algorithm would be able to deduce driving patterns. Further, by linking Hashed ID to average bill of users, type of handset used etc, a general economic profile can be generated, which can be stored along with metadata information and used as a planning tool to assess quality of audience as a parameter.

[00039] In continuation with the above embodiment, system of the present disclosure can be configured to evaluate an asset based on computation and evaluation of a plurality of traffic attributes relating to the asset, wherein the plurality of traffic attributes comprise one or more of density of vehicles across multiple timeframes, type of vehicles, type of target audience, traffic flow pattern, socio-economic classification of traffic. The plurality of traffic attributes can be computed based on one or more mobile-usage based parameters of traffic pertaining to said asset. Mobile-usage based parameters can include one or a combination of number of subscribers connected with a mobile tower, type of mobile subscription, usage of mobile of one or more subscribers, mobile bill plan of one or more subscribers, mobile bill of one or more subscribers, mobile usage trend of one or more subscribers, and characteristics of mobile usage of one or more subscribers. Traffic, in context of the present disclosure, should be interpreted to include residents, commercial establishments, and stray animals in a particular location.

[00040] In another embodiment, dwell time on a given billboard can also be stored as metadata information to assess the amount of time for which the billboard is typically viewed and the kind/type/portion/duration of advertisement can be viewed on an average. For instance, visibility duration or dwell time on a given billboard can also be useful in analyzing digital billboards, which keep changing after a short duration. In an implementation, a visibility index can be calculated by using the probability apart from usual parameters used in the static billboards. With repeat studies carried out, changes in such parameters, changes in visibility as evaluated by video analytics and image processing algorithms can be assessed to determine how much and what part of an advertisement can be actually be noticed on an average. Any metadata relating to the dwell time can therefore also be stored along with above mentioned attributes/information.

[00041] Comparison module 106 can be operatively coupled with geotagging module 104 and can be configured to compare one or more videos/images to determine changes in geotagged billboard parameters at different period of times. For instance, videos of the same stretch of road can be compared with one video taken during the day time and the other video taken during the night time and parameters of a desired billboard can be compared across videos to assess the changes in patterns. For instance, a given billboard that may be visible during the day time may not be visible during the evening time. Similarly, a billboard that may be visible for 15 seconds at 9:30 AM might be visible only for 5 seconds at 11 :30 PM and may be fore 30 seconds at 6:30 PM due to density of traffic or rush on the road. Therefore, both internal as well as external billboard parameters can change depending on the time/day/duration for which the video is recorded. On similar lines, videos taken across seasons, timeframe, years, can also be compared with one or more previously stored videos such that parameters of geotagged billboards can automatically be compared.

[00042] According to one embodiment, in case billboards are geotagged in images, one or more images taken across time zones/periods having a billboard of interest can be automatically compared with each other with respect to the billboard parameters including characteristics of surrounding geotagged objects. In an implementation, once an initial video has been recorded by capturing module 102 and billboards of interest have been geotagged by geotagging module 104, a second video of the same or a part of the road stretch can be recorded at a different time instant and compared with the initial video at the geotagged locations to compare changes in one or more billboard parameters so as to evaluate changes in characteristics of the billboard and assess impact and/or effectiveness of billboard and/or of advertisement running on the same.

[00043] According to one embodiment, comparison can be made at any two given instances, such as at different seasons, times, days, months, among other timeframes to assess changes in billboard characteristics during the time period. In order to determine changes, a given geotagged billboard can be compared based on a defined number of parameters/attributes based on metadata information that has been changed. For instance, in case, traffic density at 11 :30 AM on a given day was 230 per square km, and was 460 per square km at 6 PM on the same day, difference in this parameter can be compared to assess traffic pattern during the two time instances. Similarly, metadata information across multiple billboards can also be compared with each other to assess and determine a comparative analysis of the different billboards with respect to each other. Although, in an implementation, parameters/attributes being compared should be same across different time periods/billboards, the parameters being compared can also be different and be used to draw any other analysis/outcome.

[00044] In an implementation, date, time, and/or location information can be captured and embedded into geo-tagged video files of one or more billboards. Location information in videos of same road, but captured in different times, can be used to synchronize and identify frames of same asset. These frames can then be compared to extract similarities and changes.

[00045] Evaluation module 108 can be configured to evaluate changes in billboard parameters received from the comparison module 106 and determine qualitative and/or quantitative values of the billboard, which values can be compared across billboards in same or different regions and can be presented for objectifying investment opportunity and return on investment that the advertiser can expect. For instance, average traffic density can be computed as a "billboard evaluation characteristic" for each billboard every hour of each day of a week (through capturing of videos/images of the same stretch of road or of the billboard taken every hour) and this average traffic density can be compared with density values of other similar billboards to determine level of clutter, consequent to which a weight can be associated with the billboard based on the comparison. Similarly, growth of buildings, trees, or other such obstructions can also be evaluated across different months and videos for such months can be compared at the geotagged location to identify a pattern and associate a "billboard evaluation characteristic" based on pattern. For instance, with a consistent increase in the number of buildings or trees, impact of the billboard reduces and thereby lowering its attractiveness for potential advertisers.

[00046] According to one embodiment, the evaluation module 108 is configured to evaluate billboard parameters keeping both internal and external parameters in context. For instance, size of the billboard can play a key role in determining impact of the billboard. Similarly, construction of a flyover would also significantly impact the viewership or visibility of the billboard, which can easily be assessed based on periodic comparison of billboards across different time durations. In another instance, value of a small sized billboard positioned in the city and close to the road may be higher in winters when compared with the value of a large sized billboard positioned in the city but farther from the road due to fog. This case may actually be reverse in the summers.

[00047] According to another embodiment, evaluation module 108 can also be configured to compare content being displayed on a given billboard across different time spans in order to deduce a meaningful outcome. For instance, value or effectiveness of a billboard that frequently the content that is displayed on it may be high or low depending on the advertisements being displayed. For instance, billboards that display upcoming movies may change content on weekly basis and therefore might be suited for a particular kind of advertisement. According to an embodiment, evaluation module 108 can also be configured to evaluate the impact of currently running advertisements in order to present the same to the advertisers. For instance, change in traffic patterns across days, change in viewing time (time from when the billboard is viewable to the time up to which the billboard is viewable) across sessions of a day, change in content of the advertisement, change in direction of the billboard, among other such parameters can be assessed to help deduce the impact of the advertisement and of the billboard on which it is displayed.

[00048] According to one implementation, one or more factors for evaluation of billboard or impact thereof, can be defined and weights can be associated therewith based on their relevance/importance to the intended evaluation. Once done, changes in billboards across different timeframes can be assessed/recorded/evaluated and mapped against weights of the one or more factors. For instance, density of vehicles can have a higher weight of say .8 when compared with size of billboard (.6), when compared with alignment/direction of billboard (.4). Once these weights are defined, they can be kept same or different for each billboard and then at different time instances, each billboard can be measured against these weights to find a cumulative value for the billboard. Such a value can be, for instance, computed on a scale of 100, wherein the higher the value, the more valuable is the billboard. In addition, value of the billboard can be determined by averaging its values across different time durations of a day. For instance, value can be computed against one or more weights at 6 AM, 9 AM, 12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM, 9 PM, and then 12 AM, and the value can be averaged to find the actual value. Actual value can also be computed by averaging weekly, monthly, or yearly values in order to give a more reliable and realistic representation of the value addition that the billboard can provide. Such values can then automatically also be evaluated or be manually assessed to determine, for instance, which billboard to give advertisement on, till what time, how the advertisement should be represented. As certain billboard can change advertisement dynamically, they can be configured to present multiple advertisement, based on time slot, billboard value, advertisement revenue. For instance, a large brand such as Coke can advertise in the peak slot (9- 10AM) by giving higher amount, and another brand, which is relatively smaller such as Subway can advertise in non-peak slot by giving relatively smaller amount.

[00049] Any other change in assessment parameters, weights associated therewith, value of each billboard, mode of computation, mode of comparison, manner of evaluation, can be changed/modified at any given time and therefore is completely within the scope of the instant invention.

[00050] Report generation module 110 can be operatively coupled to evaluation module 108 among other desired modules. Report generation module 110 can be configured to receive and/or present one or more billboard evaluation characteristics obtained during assessment of a given billboard and generate a report indicating objective or subjective impact attributes of the billboard, wherein billboard evaluation characteristics are evaluated based on comparison and evaluation of billboard parameters one or more times across different time zones and durations. According to one embodiment, report generation module 110 can be configured to assign a rank or a value such as 9.4/10 to each billboard along a defined route, wherein along with the value, all billboard evaluation characteristics that have been measured to achieve the rank can be presented along with their respective weights/values. It would be appreciated that the impact value or effectiveness of a billboard can change across time periods and therefore continuous assessment of the billboard or hoarding can be done to give an accurate and more reliable impression of the advertising medium. For instance, a billboard positioned alongside a given road might have high value in the year 2012 based on parameters such as viewing duration and traffic density but may gave a significantly lower value when another video of the same geotagged billboard is recorded in 2013 and compared with the 2012 recorded video, wherein the lower value may be due to a flyover that does not even allow the billboard to be viewed for 90% of the traffic.

[00051] According to one embodiment, customized reports can be generated based on one or more of target audience, advertising company, billboard owner, billboard parameters under consideration, billboard evaluation characteristics to be assessed, among other desired attributes in the report. Module 110 can be further configured to generate reports automatically every time images or videos of a desired billboard are compared or even recorded. It would be appreciated that as each billboard evaluation report can include multiple parameters and characteristics, the report can be modified and made interactive such that only details that are desired to be seen are viewable. According to another embodiment, report generated by module 110 can also be customized for a product consumer such as for a vehicle driver passing by the billboard being evaluated. Such a report can, for instance, include billboard information such as advertisements that have been displayed on the billboard in the past one year, average traffic density during office hours, average time for which the advertisement is viewable, among other such information.

[00052] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary implementation 200 of billboard geotagging in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In an implementation, vehicle 210 can be incorporated for carrying required setup for initial stage of data collection comprising a GPS receiver 206 and a capturing unit 208 configured to capture/record location coordinates/landmarks/objects along a particular route of a geographical area. Such a route can include one or more billboards such as billboard 204, which can be geo-tagged with location information, along with other metadata content such as type of advertisement, dimensions of billboard, proximity to road, visibility parameters, among other allied attributes, one or more of which may have weights of relevance/importance associated therewith. During the geo-tagging process, GPS receiver 206 can be configured to receive geographical data (Latitude, Longitude) from GPS satellite 202, wherein the satellite 202 can be placed in earth's orbit and may be geostationary with respect to earth to provide continuous transmission of data to the receiver 206 using any transmission technique including, but not limited to, radio frequency transmission.

[00053] According to an implementation, capturing device 208, which can be for instance a camera, may be mounted externally on vehicle 210, to capture image/video of all/some/specific billboard 204 on a particular route/road/location. Capturing device 208 can be configured to shoot in continuous/still/burst/panoramic mode as per requirement of evaluation manager/client. In an instance, if capturing device 208 is shooting in still mode, it may be configured to collect/click pre-defined/pre-requisite number of images of billboard, to contribute correct and logical analysis. In another instance, if capturing device 208 is shooting in video mode, it may be configured to collect/click pre-defined/pre-requisite "Frames Per Second (FPM)" or can be configured to either shoot in normal or "High Definition" mode. Further, capturing device 208 can be aligned/positioned at a suitable/particular angle with respect to the moving direction of vehicle 210.

[00054] In an implementation, once a specific path/billboard has been geo-tagged, the geo-tagging process does not need to be conducted again for when the same path/billboard is being captured the next time as during comparison, the initial image/video can automatically pick up relevant portions from subsequent videos for comparison and evaluation of changes that have taken place.

[00055] According to another implementation, data collected by capturing device 208 can be geo-tagged by inserting/combining geographical information to image/video files. "EXIF" information can be captured by the camera when the photograph/video is taken, and can be attached/associated with the digital image file that camera records/captures. GPS data received from satellite 202 can be inserted into image/video data collected by capturing device 208, to give a geo-tagged image/video file. In this manner, all billboards of a particular area/geography can be geo-tagged and stored in memory, ready to use for analysis purpose.

[00056] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment for comparison 300 made between images/videos recoded after a certain pre-defined time interval, wherein the images have one or more geotagged billboards of interest. For simplicity, elements 302 and 306 represent two images that have been taken of a view comprising a geotagged billboard 304 of interest. Location information relating to billboard 304 along with the billboard parameters such as name of city/area where the billboard is located, height, dimensions, advertisement being displayed, among other details, can be stored in memory of billboard evaluation system. In implementation, as images 302 and 306 have been taken at different times (for instance image 306 was taken one week after image 302), comparison module of system 100 can be configured to receive current image 306 and previously captured image 302 from memory and compare images 302 and 306 with respect to the geotagged billboard 304 based on one or more external and/or internal billboard parameters. Such comparison can either be done automatically through image detectors or partially can be done manually to determine changes that have occurred in content that is displayed on the billboard 304 and compute impact of the billboard accordingly.

[00057] According to one embodiment, as can be seen in Fig. 3, during capturing of the image 302 at a first instance, content displayed on billboard 304 can be detected, based on automatic image recognition of the logo of PEPSI. Based on such detection, billboard 304 can be geotagged in the image 302 and stored with further metadata about the billboard 304 such as location, size, dimensions, distance from road, lighting, alignment, list of nearby objects, among others. Similarly, during second instance, image 306 can be captured and billboard evaluation characteristics of the geotagged billboard 304 can be compared in both the images based on billboard parameters such as content being displayed on the billboard. On comparison, evaluation module can detect a change in content being advertised, wherein geotagged billboard 304 of current image 306 can be detected to have been used for advertising Coca-Cola. Such changes including changes in other internal billboard parameters such as font, size, tag line, brand, type of billboard (for example, traditional billboards, mechanical billboards, digital billboards, mobile billboards, and electronic billboards) among other details can also be reported to accurately represent the change in characteristics of billboard from the last time or previous times the billboard was recorded. All evaluated changes can then be prioritized or scheduled such that a user friendly yet customizable and comprehensive report is generated and presented to one or more stakeholders. External changes such as change in vehicle density from where the billboard is viewable, change in infrastructure such as trees, buildings, which may block the viewability, among other like parameters.

[00058] It would be appreciated that external billboard parameters such as traffic pattern, viewing pattern, external interferences such as buildings/trees, among other such parameters may generally be measured when one or more billboards in a particular geography need to be compared with each other for assessment of their respective commercial impact or investment opportunity. However, this does not limit the scope of the invention in any manner and use of any parameter or characteristic for achieving any objective associated to geotagged billboards is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[00059] FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment 400 for comparison made between captured images/videos 402 and 406 having at least one geotagged billboard, wherein the images and/or the videos have been captured across two time intervals such as across two years. In implementation, images 402 and 406 can be compared with respect to geotagged billboard 404 based on internal billboard parameters such as font size, content of billboard, logo size, logo color, background color of billboard, size of tag line among other such internal parameters and further based on external billboard parameters such as change in traffic pattern, number of intersections, angle of billboard with respect to each intersecting road, importance of location where billboard is location, season impact on billboard, among other such external parameters. Based on such comparison, billboard evaluation characteristics can be determined along with respective values and presented by one or more stakeholders to assess impact of the billboard.

[00060] In the present example of FIG. 4, comparison of images 402 and 406 can indicate that billboard 404 of first image 402 presents an advertisement of "PEPSI" with medium size font, medium size logo of blue, white and red colors, and a tag line "yeh hai youngistan meri jaan", all of which can be automatically detected and analyzed. Similarly, geotagged billboard 404 of second image 406, when analyzed, can indicate that the geotagged billboard presents an advertisement of "PEPSI" with bigger size font that does not overlap with the logo, bigger sized logo with blue, white and red colors, and a tagline "change the game". Along with such internal billboard parameters, external parameters such as clarity of content on billboard, time during which the content is clearly visible, can also be computed for both images 402 and 406 and then compared to present the changes in characteristics of the billboard 408 to one or more stakeholders.

[00061] FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment for comparison 500 made between images/videos 502 and 506 having one or more geotagged billboards such as 504 and 508. It should be appreciated that although a part of the present disclosure may be disclosed with respect to captured images/videos having one geotagged billboard, having videos or images of multiple billboard and other objects such as trees, buildings, monuments, parks, among others being geotagged is completely within the scope of present disclosure. In an implementation, image 502 can initially be captured and geotagged billboard 504 can be analyzed to present parameters and evaluation characteristics such as size of billboard, size of advertisement, font and clarity of content, among other attributes. Similarly, during the same stretch of road, image 506 can be captured and another geotagged billboard 508 can be analyzed with respect to same evaluation characteristics and billboard parameters. [00062] As advertisers may be interested in understanding the evaluation characteristics of each of billboards on which their advertisement campaigns are running, images 502 and 506 can be compared in view of the captured billboard parameters and analyzed to present recommendation or values for each of the billboards. In the present example, it can be automatically or manually assessed that size and internal billboard parameters are better for billboard 508 when compared with billboard 504 but from the perspective of external billboard parameters, billboard 504 has better traffic density and viewing time making a larger overall impact on the visibility. Therefore, it would be appreciated that it is not only the same geotagged billboard can be compared across videos captured at different times/days/months, but in fact, multiple different billboards recorded in a single video can also be compared with each other to evaluate, for instance, the best billboards in a given area to advertise on. Furthermore, along with billboard, surrounding environment and other objects of interest can also be captured and compared across different time frames to assess changes in their characteristics. For instance, even though density of traffic may be very high in a particular location, value or impact of an advertisement of a upscale brand might be lower on that billboard when compared to another billboard positioned in a lower density upscale group of societies. Therefore, apart from measured evaluation characteristics, multiple other attributes of surrounding environment can also be taken into account.

[00063] According to one embodiment, many other billboard parameters can be taken into consideration during each comparison of videos/images having one or more geotagged billboards such as, but not limited to, distance of billboard from road, tilt angle of billboard with respect to each road from which it is viewable, duration of display of each content, type of content, level of flicker, among other such parameters. Such parameters can either be considered individually or collectively and can be customized based on the attributes that the advertiser or the billboard owner wishes to take into consideration.

[00064] According to one embodiment, captured videos can be compared with respect to geotagged billboards based on date and time of such capturing and changes in currently captured geotagged billboard can be measured with respect to one or more previously captured videos to identify billboard evaluation characteristics and their corresponding values. For instance, during first instance, video of a billboard can be captured and geotagged on 11^th November, 2011 at 1211 Hrs and during second instance of capturing current video, same geotagged billboard can be captured again on 13 November, 2011 at 1730 Hrs. Comparison of both vides can then be made with respect to the geotagged billboard and, based on evaluation of billboard parameters, qualitative and/or quantitative values of billboard evaluation characteristics can be computed and presented in a user friendly report format. Evaluation module of the system 100 can process possible changes in billboard parameters that can take place 1211 to 1730 Hrs assuming that the possible number of viewers passing by that particular route at 1211 Hrs would be lesser than at 1730 Hrs.

[00065] In another embodiment, geotagged billboards from current video and previous videos can also be compared based on the season in which the videos were captured. For instance, a first video of a billboard can be captured and geotagged in summer season and a second video of the same road stretch can be captured in winter season. Comparison of two videos can then give an assessment of the impact of the billboard across different seasons and such impact can then be measured and presented to concerned stakeholders. For instance, impact of a billboard closer to the road would be more in winters (due to fog) when compared to a billboard away from the road and therefore distance of billboard from road would become a key billboard evaluation characteristic if season is taken as a billboard parameter under consideration.

[00066] Similarly, traffic pattern, including population density in the area, number of lanes on the road, number of intersections, number of traffic lights, among other such parameters can also play a role in evaluating billboard impact. For instance, number of traffic lights would suggest stoppage time during the intersection or stretch of road from which the billboard is visible. A greater number of traffic lights and longer standing time would therefore increase the valuation of the billboard, which can change if the number of lanes in the road is increased from 1-3 after three months. Therefore, in an implementation, each time a video of a given geographical area is recorded, it can be automatically compared with one or more previously stored videos having at least one geotagged billboard and output can be presented directly to the advertiser or billboard owner.

[00067] According to another embodiment, multiple internal and external parameters can be combined with each other during comparison and evaluation of billboards to give a more accurate and reliable representation. For instance, date, time, season, billboard content, billboard dimensions, and traffic pattern can be combined together for evaluation of a given geotagged billboard. In another embodiment, system of the present invention can also be configured to incorporate location/geographical area characteristics and occasion of the year while evaluating billboards. For instance, a billboard situated near a temple can have significantly higher number of views during religious festivals when compared to usual days, and comparison of videos can give the increased number of views and assist in measuring the enhanced impact during the festive occasion.

[00068] FIG. 6 presents a method 600 for evaluating one or more geotagged billboards based on comparison of one or more videos/images having the geotagged billboards along with other objects of interest. Such evaluation of billboard based on multiple billboard parameters can help understand effectiveness and importance of billboard at particular location and over a particular route. Although the present embodiment has been described with respect to geotagging of billboards in a video, geotagging can take place across images, websites, and many other platforms, all of which are within the scope of the present invention.

[00069] Step 602 can include capturing, by means of a capturing module, video of one or more billboards over a particular route or for a defined region. According to one embodiment, a capturing unit such as a recorder can be mounted on a vehicle and moved along a particular route to capture video of route and billboards present over the particular route. The step can include capturing of advertisements being displayed on billboards along with many other characteristics such as timestamp for which each billboard was visible, among other such attributes. In an exemplary implementation, vehicles mounted with recorders can also be halted near billboards for improved capturing of billboard parameters and surroundings of billboards for subsequent evaluation. Other objects such as trees, buildings, commercial establishments, among other landmarks can also be captured and stored along with the billboard(s).

[00070] Step 604 includes geotagging billboards along with one or more of other captured objects that have been captured in the videos/images of step 602. The step can include receiving the captured video and/or images and automatically and/or manually identifying billboards (and other desired objects) in the video and tag them with geographical information/coordinates and additional metadata information, which form part of the billboard parameters. Such metadata information can include billboard dimensions, advertisement being displayed, density of traffic at the juncture(s) from where the board can be viewed, type of infrastructure/objects nearby the billboard, among other like parameters. [00071] Step 606 includes comparing one or more videos and/or images with respect geotagged billboards recoded by them and identify similarities and/or changes that have taken place between the time the current and previous videos were recorded. Such identification of changes can take place based on one or more billboard parameters and billboard evaluation characteristics such as traffic pattern, content changes, billboard specific characteristics can be quantified or measured and presented to one or more stakeholders. In implementation, while comparing two videos, whenever a given geotagged billboard is identified and matched, its respective parameters and surrounding attributes such as whether, seasons, time of day, among other external billboard parameters can be automatically or manually compared and analysis is given in a customizable and interactive report.

[00072] Step 608 includes evaluating changes in billboard parameters and/or surrounding attributes received from the comparison module 106 and determining qualitative and/or quantitative values corresponding to billboard evaluation characteristics, which values can be compared across billboards in same or different regions and can be presented as a report for objectifying investment opportunity and return on investment that the advertiser can expect. During evaluation, one or more internal or external billboard parameters can be selected to form a billboard evaluation characteristic for each billboard, wherein a value can be associated with each characteristic and assessed independently or with corresponding values of other like billboard to compute an impact value and possibly associate a weight with the billboard based on the evaluation.

[00073] Step 610 includes generating evaluation report based on billboard evaluation characteristic values, wherein the report can include one or more of billboard parameters considered, changes in billboard observed after comparison with previous videos/images, output obtained after comparison with other billboards, among other desired details. The report can also include a conclusion section, wherein an overall impact or effectiveness value can be associated with each billboard, which can be changed each time a new video of the same billboard is recorded and changes are notices. Along with the values, justifications of such values can also be presented in the report to complete clarity to the concerned stakeholder. Furthermore, suggestions can also be mentioned for best time to start an advertising campaign along with details of which billboard should be used at what time. Each geotagged billboard can also be ranked for faster access to the best billboard and cost associated with the same. [00074] While embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as described in the claim.

Claims

CLAIMS We Claim:

1. A system for evaluating billboards comprising:

a capturing module configured to capture an image/video of a billboard along a route;

a geotagging module configured to geo-tag said captured image/video of said billboard, wherein said geo-tagging comprises determining and storing metadata information relating to said billboard, said metadata information comprises one or a combination of location coordinates of said billboard, time for which said billboard is viewable, dimensions of said billboard, content on said billboard, dwell time on said billboard, attributes of said billboard, orientation of said billboard, traffic parameters relating to said billboard, road attributes, timestamp at which said image/video is captured, weather/season, or

characteristics of nearby objects; and

a comparison module configured to compare said metadata information of said geo-tagged image/video with one or more subsequently captured images/videos of said billboard to identify changes in said metadata information of said billboard across different timestamps.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an evaluation module configured to evaluate said changes in said metadata information of said billboard to determine a value of said billboard, said value indicating advertisement potential of said billboard.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said evaluation module is configured to determine one or more evaluation parameters, and further configured to determine said value of said billboard in view of said evaluation parameters based on said changes in said metadata information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said evaluation parameters are weighted based on their relevance to one or more evaluation objectives.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein said evaluation module is configured to value a plurality of billboards, wherein said billboard forms part of said plurality of billboards.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein values of respective billboards are compared based on one or more evaluation objectives to determine desired set of billboards.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein said one or more evaluation objectives comprise one or a combination of most viewable billboard(s), billboard(s) having highest traffic density, billboard(s) having maximum height, billboard(s) near maximum density of residential population, billboard(s) on highways/flyovers/major intersections/traffic lights, billboard(s) having seasonal viewership, billboards having maximum viewership from upper class, billboards having maximum viewership from upper-middle class, billboards having maximum viewership from lower class, and billboards meeting one or more business objective.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said capturing module is further configured to capture one or a combination of road attributes, building infrastructure, commercial

infrastructure, residential infrastructure, traffic attributes, trees/plantation, highways, flyovers, traffic lights, shops, and allied billboard objects along said route.

9. A method for evaluating billboards comprising the steps of:

capturing an image/video of a billboard along a route;

geo-tagging said captured image/video of said billboard, wherein said geo-tagging comprises determining and storing metadata information relating to said billboard, said metadata information comprises one or a combination of location coordinates of said billboard, dimensions of said billboard, content on said billboard, attributes of said billboard, orientation of said billboard, traffic parameters relating to said billboard, timestamp at which said image/video is captured, weather/season, or characteristics of nearby objects; and

comparing said metadata information of said geo-tagged image/video with one or more subsequently captured images/videos of said billboard to identify changes in said metadata information of said billboard across different timestamps.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of evaluating said changes in said metadata information of said billboard to determine a value of said billboard, said value indicating advertisement potential of said billboard.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of evaluating comprises determining one or more evaluation parameters, and further determining said value of said billboard in view of said evaluation parameters based on said changes in said metadata information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said evaluation parameters are weighted based on their relevance to one or more evaluation objectives.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of evaluating comprises valuing a plurality of billboards, wherein said billboard forms part of said plurality of billboards.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein values of respective billboards are compared based on one or more evaluation objectives to determine desired set of billboards.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said one or more evaluation objectives comprise one or a combination of most viewable billboard(s), billboard(s) having highest traffic density, billboard(s) having maximum height, billboard(s) near maximum density of residential population, billboard(s) on highways/flyovers/major intersections/traffic lights, billboard(s) having seasonal viewership, billboards having maximum viewership from upper class, billboards having maximum viewership from upper-middle class, billboards having maximum viewership from lower class, and billboards meeting one or more business objective.

16. A system for evaluating an asset based on computation and evaluation of a plurality of traffic attributes relating to said asset, said plurality of traffic attributes comprising one or more of density of vehicles across multiple timeframes, type of vehicles, type of target audience, traffic flow pattern, socio-economic classification of traffic, wherein said plurality of traffic attributes are computed based on one or more mobile-usage based parameters of traffic pertaining to said asset.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said assets comprise one or a combination of static billboards, moving billboards, signboards, posters, and hoardings.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein traffic comprises travellers, shops, traveling mediums, and residents.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein mobile-usage based parameters comprise one or a combination of number of subscribers connected with a mobile tower, type of mobile subscription, usage of mobile of one or more subscribers, mobile bill plan of one or more subscribers, mobile bill of one or more subscribers, mobile usage trend of one or more subscribers, and characteristics of mobile usage of one or more subscribers.